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US Athletes Reject Boycott of Beijing Games

Sporting trumps politics, even for sympathetic competitors

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 17, 2008 4:32 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Many US athletes aren’t swayed by winds of boycott surrounding the Beijing Olympics, the Christian Science Monitor reports. “What's going on is important and we should pay attention to it,” says a 2004 gold medalist, but “we need to be athletes first.”  Despite a 1980 boycott of the Moscow Games, "the invasion continued,” notes a wrestler of the Soviets' takeover of Afghanistan.

Many have no problem with the protests—until they turn violent or disruptive. “I don't think the protests were against what the Olympics are,” says a cyclist. “They just used the Olympics as a platform.” Instead of an all-out boycott, many support skipping the opening ceremonies—though one French gymnast wants to compete wearing a badge reading “For a better world.”

Exile Tibetans protest against the Beijing Olympics in Dharmsala, India, Thursday, April 17, 2008.
Exile Tibetans protest against the Beijing Olympics in Dharmsala, India, Thursday, April 17, 2008.   (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
A woman protests against alleged human rights abuses in Tibet by Chinese authorities and calls for a boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics at Leblon beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, March 30, 2008.
A woman protests against alleged human rights abuses in Tibet by Chinese authorities and calls for a boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics at Leblon beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, March 30, 2008.   (AP Photo/Ricardo Moraes)
Gold medalist Paul Hamm calls Olympic political concerns important, but he won't boycott the Games because of them.
Gold medalist Paul Hamm calls Olympic political concerns "important," but he won't boycott the Games because of them.   (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
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EU leader: boycott not helpful
Telegraph (UK)

Olympics organizers speak against boycott
AFP

Opinion: boycott would be useless
San Francisco Chronicle

 
2008 Beijing Olympics • athlete • Olympic boycotts • Olympic protests

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